Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/christianitytoday/ctpolitics/~3/ZCN0myz0Qoo/chaplains_offer.html
Obama President Obama US Secretary US Politics US Government
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Feinstein: U.S. shouldn't arm rebels
Washington (CNN) - Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein said Thursday that we should not arm rebels in Libya as...
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/31/feinstein-u-s-shouldnt-arm-rebels/
political buttons political consulting firms political advertisements political quiz laser politic politic
Skelos Thanks Cuomo, Derides Dems
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who is trying to link himself and his conference as closely to Gov. Andrew Cuomo as humanly (and politically) possible, followed the governor’s lead by taking a post-budget victory lap via a Web video released this afternoon. Skelos took a shot at the Democrats right out of the gate, saying:
Source: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/03/skelos-thanks-cuomo-derides-dems/
political party major political parties data data politic political collectibles politics 1
Winburn: Let?s Work All Summer
Councilman Charlie Winburn says this motion of his is going to separate the true conservatives from those who just claim to be conservative. He’s proposing that council skip its usual summer break to work on the 2012 budget. He has a motion written up that he plans to introduce in his Job Creation Committee on [...]
Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/25/winburn-lets-work-all-summer/
Federal judge won't let Texas out of decree on poor kids' dental health
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Schell of Plano has rejected Texas' bid to be freed from a dental corrective action plan and more study of poor children's dental health in the long-running Frew lawsuit.
Lawyers for Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs argued that Texas has achieved the objectives of a 1996 consent decree because 58 percent of poor children on Medicaid participated in dental screening in 2009, up from 14 percent in 1993. Also, Suehs' lawyers said Texas ranked third among the states in percentage of kids screened in a 2008 study.
But plaintiffs' lawyer Susan Zinn of San Antonio argued that the state did a flawed study of the children's dental health in 2009, which she said conflicts with other studies and the views of Texas dentists.
"The number of Texas children with Medicaid who have no basic preventive dental care has increased to almost 1.5 million," she said Wednesday. At any given time, there about 2.5 million children on Medicaid.
In his ruling, Schell said a planned second study must go forward to see if the improvements have been lasting. He noted that demonstrating such progress "over time" is a requirement of a 2007 plan of improvements agreed upon by the state and Zinn. He said the state hasn't yet "proved changed circumstances in the dental health" of the youngsters. He ordered it to give Zinn a proposed "dental corrective action plan" within 120 days.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/federal-judge-wont-let-texas-o.html
politics and religion political commercials politic politic data cold war political cartoons latest politics news
The No Club
By request (from the comments section), here’s a list of the senator who cast “no” votes on the budget bills. You’ll notice Democratic Sens. Ruben Diaz Sr. (Bronx) and Tom Duane (Manhattan) were in the negative on every single bill. Sen. Bill Perkins (Harlem) was excused for the first two votes, I’m told. 2011 BUDGET
Source: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/03/the-no-club/
politics cnn politics political jobs daily politics united states politics
Federal judge won't let Texas out of decree on poor kids' dental health
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Schell of Plano has rejected Texas' bid to be freed from a dental corrective action plan and more study of poor children's dental health in the long-running Frew lawsuit.
Lawyers for Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Tom Suehs argued that Texas has achieved the objectives of a 1996 consent decree because 58 percent of poor children on Medicaid participated in dental screening in 2009, up from 14 percent in 1993. Also, Suehs' lawyers said Texas ranked third among the states in percentage of kids screened in a 2008 study.
But plaintiffs' lawyer Susan Zinn of San Antonio argued that the state did a flawed study of the children's dental health in 2009, which she said conflicts with other studies and the views of Texas dentists.
"The number of Texas children with Medicaid who have no basic preventive dental care has increased to almost 1.5 million," she said Wednesday. At any given time, there about 2.5 million children on Medicaid.
In his ruling, Schell said a planned second study must go forward to see if the improvements have been lasting. He noted that demonstrating such progress "over time" is a requirement of a 2007 plan of improvements agreed upon by the state and Zinn. He said the state hasn't yet "proved changed circumstances in the dental health" of the youngsters. He ordered it to give Zinn a proposed "dental corrective action plan" within 120 days.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/federal-judge-wont-let-texas-o.html
politic politic leave political websites Obama President Obama US Secretary
Half Hezza, half Lawson
George Osborne doesn't want to go down in history simply as the chancellor who made record spending cuts. He wants to be seen as a great reformer. I'm told that he has his eye on emulating two of the Big Beasts of the last Tory era - Michael Heseltine and Nigel Lawson.
Hezza, you may recall, promised to intervene "before breakfast, lunch and dinner" when he was president of the Board of Trade. George Osborne's activism will include new style enterprise zones designed to attract businesses to areas struggling to grow, more apprenticeships and a new emphasis on vocational education.
Lawson is still revered in Tory circles as the great tax reformer. Today the chancellor will use a little read document produced by his own creation - the Office of Tax Simplification - to promise an era of lower, simpler taxes. The office identified no fewer than 1042 tax reliefs and proposed abolishing a raft of them ranging from tax-free coal for miners to luncheon vouchers and meals on cycle-to-work-days. Much more significant, though, were their proposals to merge national insurance and income tax and review the workings of inheritance tax.
National Insurance - created by an Act of Parliament exactly a century ago to pay for old age pensions - has long since become just another pot of Treasury cash. Gordon Brown raised it to pay for the NHS after the 2001 election and Alistair Darling raised it again to help balance the books after the banking crisis. The fact that it has different thresholds from income tax and is administered by employers in a different way can, it's argued, lead to perverse outcomes and high bureaucratic costs. It also allows for easier stealth tax rises. It will be fascinating to see how far and how fast Osborne the reformer feels he can go.
Osborne will know his history well enough to know that a Budget hailed on the day can turn into one condemned long after. Lawson's boldest Budget - in 1988 - cut the basic and the top rate of tax. It was blamed by many later for fuelling - instead of curbing - the excessive growth of the time. That's a problem Osborne would love to be able to worry about but he will know that his Budget - like that one - is likely to be judged later by whether the chancellor was right to stick to his economic policy or should have taken the chance to change it.
PS Having written the line half Hezza and half Lawson I'm finding it hard to get the image of a chubby short chap with flowing blonde locks out of my head...
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/half_hezza_half.html
politic politic data cold war political cartoons latest politics news political action committee alabama politics
Wisconsin Dems embrace April fools'
(CNN)–Wisconsin Democrats aren't pulling any punches, or punchlines, when it comes to recent comments made by freshman GOP Rep. Sean...
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/30/wisconsin-dems-embrace-april-fools/
Governor politics cnn politics political jobs daily politics
Rumsfeld talks 2012 GOP field
Washington (CNN) - Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gave his view of the 2012 presidential campaign field by saying, ?I...
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/30/rumsfeld-talks-2012/
US Government The Power of Politics Election day Republican Democrat
Went to the Funeral, Got a Rally
Getting a lecture on civility from a Democrat is a lot like being lectured on religious tolerance by a follower of Islam. With either one, you’re going to get a message so laughably hypocritical it’s hard to tell whether to feel intellectually insulted or amused by the ridiculous nature of the premise.
Chances are, [...]
Related posts:
Chances are, [...]
Related posts:
- Tea Parties vs. Tequila Parties
- Establishment Republicans Eat Their Own …
- “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCommonSensePoliticsBlog/~3/4XwDtbDMwUg/
political buttons political consulting firms political advertisements political quiz laser politic politic
Media Confuses Midwest with Middle East
There was a time when I used to think Anderson Cooper was pretty cool.
Granted, I was about thirteen, and the reason was because he was the globe-trotting reporter for the kids’ news show Channel One that they made us watch in school.
Cooper traveled all over the world, reporting from what appeared to be the front [...]
Related posts:
Granted, I was about thirteen, and the reason was because he was the globe-trotting reporter for the kids’ news show Channel One that they made us watch in school.
Cooper traveled all over the world, reporting from what appeared to be the front [...]
Related posts:
- Public trust in the news media takes a dive … What took so long?
- Tea Parties vs. Tequila Parties
- Establishment Republicans Eat Their Own …
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCommonSensePoliticsBlog/~3/PYr5bNdeYbQ/
US Politics US Government The Power of Politics Election day Republican
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Q & A: AccessNow Takes on Democracy, The Internet, and The Middle East
The role of technology in recent Middle Eastern revolutions has been made pretty clear. Despite being thousands of miles away, Brett Solomon, Executive Director co-founder of Access Now, is at the epicenter of it this week. Access Now is an NGO committed to "the realization of human rights and democracy…[as] predicated on access to the internet," and this week, released and is attempting to 'digitally smuggle' a bombshell document into countries whose communication lines have been corrupted, as they're either severed with the rest of the Western World by their governments, or even worse, monitored backed by the threat of civic punishment and worse. And you think Twitter going down is a problem.
Entitled Protecting Your Security Online, the paper being released in both English and Arabic, could be one of the most vital pieces of information to the organic spread of democracy in the world. Why? It's a simple user's guide to circumventing surveillance and hindrance of digital communications by anti-democracy governments. This is why it could also find itself on the precipice of becoming the most banned, dangerous unclassified public document to posess in that region right now, let alone the world, today. Solomon, a young Australian-by-way-of-New-York, who spoke with us on Friday over a bad cell phone connection, would argue differently.
Source: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/brett-solomon-interview-access-now-5456069?src=rss
enter stuff politic crack politic processor politic processor crack processor crack politic political parties
Poll: Kasich?s approval rating 30 percent
The first poll taken after Ohio Gov. John Kasich released his budget plan a week ago shows the governor with an approval rating of 30 percent and considerable dissatisfaction over his budget. Quinnipiac University, which does polling in key states, released a poll this morning which showed that 46 percent disapprove of the way Kasich, [...]
Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/23/poll-kasichs-approval-rating-30-percent/
processor crack politic political parties political candidates political memorabilia politic processor politic
Poll: Blackwell top choice of Ohio Republicans for Senate
Former Ohio Secretary of State and Cincinnati mayor J. Kenneth Blackwell is the top choice of Ohio Republicans to run against Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s 2012 U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll. Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina firm that has been running out Ohio polls all week, polled 400 “usual” [...]
enter stuff politic crack politic processor politic processor crack processor crack politic political parties
Half Hezza, half Lawson
George Osborne doesn't want to go down in history simply as the chancellor who made record spending cuts. He wants to be seen as a great reformer. I'm told that he has his eye on emulating two of the Big Beasts of the last Tory era - Michael Heseltine and Nigel Lawson.
Hezza, you may recall, promised to intervene "before breakfast, lunch and dinner" when he was president of the Board of Trade. George Osborne's activism will include new style enterprise zones designed to attract businesses to areas struggling to grow, more apprenticeships and a new emphasis on vocational education.
Lawson is still revered in Tory circles as the great tax reformer. Today the chancellor will use a little read document produced by his own creation - the Office of Tax Simplification - to promise an era of lower, simpler taxes. The office identified no fewer than 1042 tax reliefs and proposed abolishing a raft of them ranging from tax-free coal for miners to luncheon vouchers and meals on cycle-to-work-days. Much more significant, though, were their proposals to merge national insurance and income tax and review the workings of inheritance tax.
National Insurance - created by an Act of Parliament exactly a century ago to pay for old age pensions - has long since become just another pot of Treasury cash. Gordon Brown raised it to pay for the NHS after the 2001 election and Alistair Darling raised it again to help balance the books after the banking crisis. The fact that it has different thresholds from income tax and is administered by employers in a different way can, it's argued, lead to perverse outcomes and high bureaucratic costs. It also allows for easier stealth tax rises. It will be fascinating to see how far and how fast Osborne the reformer feels he can go.
Osborne will know his history well enough to know that a Budget hailed on the day can turn into one condemned long after. Lawson's boldest Budget - in 1988 - cut the basic and the top rate of tax. It was blamed by many later for fuelling - instead of curbing - the excessive growth of the time. That's a problem Osborne would love to be able to worry about but he will know that his Budget - like that one - is likely to be judged later by whether the chancellor was right to stick to his economic policy or should have taken the chance to change it.
PS Having written the line half Hezza and half Lawson I'm finding it hard to get the image of a chubby short chap with flowing blonde locks out of my head...
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/half_hezza_half.html
political parties political candidates political memorabilia politic processor politic real clear politics polls
Matt Lucas standing for the Tories in Moulsecoomb and Bevendean ? Exclusive
Do you remember the TV quiz programme Shooting Stars with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer? And the Matt Lucas character dressed in a huge baby romper suit playing the drums and keeping the scores: “What’s the scores on the doors, George Dawes?” was the cry at the end of each round. Well, standing in Moulsecoomb [...]
Obama President Obama US Secretary US Politics US Government
The Alan Hevesi Sentencing Memo
Here’s the sentencing memo referenced in today’s DN story on disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s plea for leniency in which he admits to behavior that was “wrong, stupid and improper.” The 71-year-old Hevei’s own letter to state Supreme Court Justice Bart Stone is “Exhibit A.” In it, he expresses remorse that he “failed to
Source: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/03/the-alan-hevesi-sentencing-memo/
politics cnn politics political jobs daily politics united states politics
Portune: We?ll take your streetcar money
Now that the state of Ohio is on the verge of yanking $52 million from Cincinnati’s streetcar project, Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune has a plan for at least some of that money – give it to Hamilton County to build decks over Fort Washington Way. At Wednesday morning’s Hamilton County commission meeting, Commissioner Todd [...]
Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/23/portune-well-take-your-streetcar-money/
canadian political parties politic politic leave political websites Obama President Obama
Chabot visits Guantanamo Bay, reacts to Libya
Rep. Steve Chabot just got back from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. He and two other members of Congress made an official visit there on Monday. The Westwood Republican, who is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee’s subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, said the purpose of the trip was to [...]
Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/23/chabot-visits-guantanamo-bay-reacts-to-libya/
US Government The Power of Politics Election day Republican Democrat
K-104 Unveils New Morning Show With Worst Name Ever
I once profiled Hymen Childs, the very media-shy owner of K104. He’s a radio genius — or he was a radio genius. If you, like me, remember the days when Skip Murphy and Company ruled the morning airwaves, then you’ll scratch your head when I tell you what the name of the just-announced new morning [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dmagazine/frontburner/~3/Dmy6PLruVCE/
politic politic leave political websites Obama President Obama US Secretary
Over to Obama
Tonight Britain, France and Lebanon have tabled a United Nations resolution which would impose a no-fly zone on Libya.
The resolution also proposes a ban on Libyan commercial aircraft landing in other countries - to stop them being used to carry arms and mercenaries - and a call for tougher monitoring to enforce the UN arms embargo, the asset freeze and the travel ban which are designed to put pressure on the Gaddafi regime.
London and Paris have made their move without knowing whether the United States will back it. The question that is ringing around Downing Street is "what does Obama think?"
Rather than wait for an answer the prime minister, along with President Sarkozy, has decided to try to force the diplomatic pace.
Today, after G8 foreign ministers followed the EU in refusing to sign up to a no-fly zone, the foreign secretary was forced to admit that "not every nation sees eye-to-eye on issues such as a no-fly zone".
His French counterpart Alain Juppe went further, declaring that "we are stuck" and blaming it not just on China's traditional resistance to intervening in other countries' internal affairs but on the fact that "Europe is impotent".
Today the German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle declared:
"Military intervention is not the solution. From our point of view it is very difficult and dangerous... we do not want to get sucked into a war in North Africa and we would not like to step on a slippery slope where we all are, at the end, in a war."What, though, of President Obama? The Americans have stressed that if there is to be a no-fly zone the initiative should come from the region.
That's why tonight's resolution is being presented in co-operation with Lebanon, which represents the Arab League on the UN Security Council. The White House is said to want to see Arab military involvement, not just diplomatic backing.
The question which is worrying Downing Street though is - would even that be enough?
The British government is waiting to find out whether President Obama is opposed to any military intervention and whether his concerns about the situation in the Gulf - Bahrain and Saudi Arabia - will override any interest he has in North Africa.
Above all they are wondering just how long will it be before we find out what the president thinks about Libya.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/over_to_obama.html
major political parties data data politic political collectibles politics 1 the daily politics
But will it?
Put fuel into the tank of the British economy, that is.
That was the chancellor's claim at the end of his Budget speech. Backed by his surprise tax raid on the oil companies and promise to hold fuel duty down George Osborne will, no doubt, have succeeded in writing his own Budget headlines.
The test of today's announcements, however, will not be that or, even, the extent to which his giveaways really do ease the squeeze on incomes given the rise in VAT, cuts to tax credits and rising inflation.
The Budget will, instead, be judged by whether the chancellor's plan to cut business taxes and to lower the hurdles enterprises face in the form of planning laws, tax rules and government regulations will, in reality, help speed the economic recovery.
Today's new independent forecast showed that the economy is not growing as fast as had been hoped and that the recovery would be slower than after the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s.
So, even after the sort of Budget surprise which Gordon Brown would have been proud of, the key debate remains the same. Will today's measures put fuel into the tank, as ministers claim, or is the only way to do that, as Labour insists, to slow down the pace and lessen the depth of public spending cuts.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/but_will_it.html
political ads office politics political cartoons 2009 love processor politic politic crack processor
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Poll: Blackwell top choice of Ohio Republicans for Senate
Former Ohio Secretary of State and Cincinnati mayor J. Kenneth Blackwell is the top choice of Ohio Republicans to run against Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s 2012 U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll. Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina firm that has been running out Ohio polls all week, polled 400 “usual” [...]
office politics political cartoons 2009 love processor politic politic crack processor soft crack politic
I Hope Bill Maher Doesn?t Kiss His Mother With That Mouth
I’m just now learning that when Bill Maher was in town Sunday at the Winspear, he dropped a C-bomb, the second-most dreaded ordnance in the English lexicon, surpassed in its explosive power only by the N-bomb. He was, of course, talking about Sarah Palin. Former Observer scribe Andrea Grimes didn’t think it was very funny. [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dmagazine/frontburner/~3/gqaYMrOQIxw/
politic politic data cold war political cartoons latest politics news political action committee alabama politics
Should the U.S. get involved in Libya?
The United Nations imposed a no-fly zone on Libya Thursday, authorizing “all necessary measures” to stop Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. (His government today declared a “cease-fire” against civilians.) Left unclear: How a no-fly zone would be enforced, who would do it, or what the U.S. role would be. What should the U.S. do on Libya? [...]
Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/18/should-the-u-s-get-involved-in-libya/
latest politics news political action committee alabama politics recent political news articles political party
Poll: Blackwell top choice of Ohio Republicans for Senate
Former Ohio Secretary of State and Cincinnati mayor J. Kenneth Blackwell is the top choice of Ohio Republicans to run against Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s 2012 U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll. Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina firm that has been running out Ohio polls all week, polled 400 “usual” [...]
political cartoons 2009 love processor politic politic crack processor soft crack politic enter stuff politic
Local Journalist Explains Magazine Item on TV
The cover story of our April issue is “52 Things Every Dallasite Must Do.” Item No. 50 is titled “Hire a Day Laborer.” A few bloggers around the country have worked hard to gin up controversy over the item, with some success, evidenced by a call I got yesterday from Fox Channel 4 to offer [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dmagazine/frontburner/~3/mEf5VFKINrQ/
political party major political parties data data politic political collectibles politics 1
Why Newt Gingrich Is Awesome
In an unsettled age — when often the rules of nature themselves seem suspended, hysteria is the lingua franca, permanent despots fall in a contagious revolution, for the first time in the life of America it is hard to see if or how the next generation will do better than the last, and life itself becomes so unpredictable that the likeliest thing to happen next is the unprecedented unknown — it is reassuring to look over and see a familiar face.
Yes, Newt. Hi, Mr. Speaker. So very nice to see you. When we find ourselves in times of trouble, Speaker Gingrich comes to us. Speaking words of wisdom. We've been through a lot together, haven't we, sir? And now today you're announcing a likely future announcement that you'll be seriously exploring an exploratory committee for the presidency of the United States of America.
Well, you could knock us over with a feather, because as your former wife and most important aide Marianne told Esquire's John H. Richardson about your presidential aspirations for this groundbreaking piece on you last fall...
Source: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/newt-gingrich-presidential-committee-5334317?src=rss
political consulting firms political advertisements political quiz laser politic politic political blogs
The Personal and the Political, how this blog falls miserably short of maintaining standards
Craig Turton quotes Tony Benn in saying that politics should be more about issues than personalities. He writes: “This blog (good though it is and the blogger would be flattered by the number of councillors who do read it) is in danger of becoming a soap opera. Perhaps time for more consideration of the ‘isshhoos’ [...]
US Politics US Government The Power of Politics Election day Republican
Mayor Dwaine Caraway sends flowers to House floor for his wife, state Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway
Mayor Dwaine Caraway is clearly a man who knows how to say I'm sorry.
He sent this beautiful arrangement (photo at right by Christy Hoppe) to Austin for his wife, Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway, D-Dallas. As the entire world knows now, one of their marital spats became brutally public yesterday.
One interesting tidbit: The flowers were delivered to the House by none other than Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas. A House page took it from there.
For what it's worth, Rep. Mallory Caraway still has yet to publicly address what happened at the couple's home on Jan. 2, accusations by her husband that she may be mentally ill, and whether she in fact tried to attack him with a knife.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/mayor-dwaine-caraway-send-flow.html
political action committee alabama politics recent political news articles political party major political parties
Smith: Cuomo?s Budget Could ?Come Back To Bite Him?
NY magazine’s Chris Smith, who’s getting a lot of attention for his well-timed cover story of Gov. Andrew “The Gamer” Cuomo, was on “Morning Joe” today and said the budget Cuomo negotiated with the legislative leaders is “regressive in a lot of senses” and could come back to haunt him if he runs for president.
Source: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/03/smith-cuomos-budget-could-come-back-to-bite-him/
President Obama US Secretary US Politics US Government The Power of Politics
POLITICAL HOT TOPICS: Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The CNN Washington Bureau?s morning speed read of the top stories making news from around the country and the world....
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/29/political-hot-topics-tuesday-march-29-2011/
cold war political cartoons latest politics news political action committee alabama politics recent political news articles
Obama's Libya Speech, Decoded
Okay, we're familiar with the Obama drill on Libya to date: 1) Write political checks with your mouth that you have no intention of cashing with your military. 2) Keep acting like it's no big thing to your presidency, because you're a busy leader, and let the French take this bit in their mouth for once. 3) When all the ducks (UN, NATO, Arab League) are lined up, commit only the minimum of cutting-edge military assets to make this work, emphasizing no boots on the ground and absolutely no sense of responsibility for the aftermath — besides the usual superpower tithing. So yeah, a responsibility to protect, just no responsibility to pay the Bush-Cheney standard of 90-percent of blood and treasure.
Now for the official sales pitch to the American people, line-by-line:
I want to begin by paying tribute to our men and women in uniform...
Translation: Although every president starts out every war address like this, I'm a Democrat, and so I especially need to do this.
For generations, the United States of America has played a unique role as an anchor of global security and advocate for human freedom. Mindful of the risks and costs of military action, we are naturally reluctant to use force to solve the world's many challenges. But when our interests and values are at stake, we have a responsibility to act. That is what happened in Libya over the course of these last six weeks.
Translation: I know I'm running the world's sole military superpower, and I know Libya meets the obvious minimum standards for an intervention, but remember that this has only been going on for six weeks, so don't you dare label me as...
Source: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/obama-libya-speech-5473207?src=rss
Monday, March 28, 2011
A vampire, a bishop, and a ?Labour/Green? activist all standing for the Tories in Hove!
More on the new Tory website, and an answer to the mystery about the disappearance of Moulsecoomb and Bevendean. Momma Grizzly writes: “Just a quick note on Moulsecoomb & Bevendean: it?s covered by the Kemp Town Conservatives rather than the Federation of Brighton Pavilion and Hove & Portslade Conservatives, hence the absence on this site.” [...]
office politics political cartoons 2009 love processor politic politic crack processor soft crack politic
New Tory website claims that all its candidates are gay (not really)
The Brighton and Hove Conservatives have launched their new website, full of details about their candidates. The site is simple to navigate but a bit clunky when trying to see the different candidates in each ward. You can’t see all in one go and it takes two clicks to navigate from, for example, one Estate [...]
politics 1 the daily politics political liberalism political signs political ad
People are dying in Libya as I write this
You will have to forgive me if I do not post anything for the next few days. The intervention mandated by the UN Security Council for military action against Libya, has Impacted on my mood. As I write, people are dying, slaughtered by the corrupt regime and by coalition forces. While I find all military [...]
Source: http://brightonpoliticsblogger.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/people-are-dying-in-libya-as-i-write-this/
soft crack politic enter stuff politic crack politic processor politic processor crack processor crack politic
You Can?t Polish a Turd ?
Paul Ryan calls out Democrats on the “Fuzzy Math” they used to lie to the CBO to get Obamacare passed (they must have had public school educations). Click PLAY over there »»» to watch the skewering.
©2011 The Common Sense Politics Blog. All Rights Reserved..
Related posts:Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Racism in the Obama Administration?
Merry Christmas [...]
Related posts:
©2011 The Common Sense Politics Blog. All Rights Reserved..
Related posts:Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Racism in the Obama Administration?
Merry Christmas [...]
Related posts:
- Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
- Racism in the Obama Administration?
- Merry Christmas from the FCC …
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCommonSensePoliticsBlog/~3/2E3T03WzbYY/
Governor politics cnn politics political jobs daily politics
McCain won't watch 'Game Change'
(CNN) - He is set to be portrayed by a four-time Oscar nominee, but Arizona Sen. John McCain says he...
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/28/mccain-wont-watch-game-change/
politics news cq politics politics and religion political commercials politic politic data
Poll: Kasich?s approval rating 30 percent
The first poll taken after Ohio Gov. John Kasich released his budget plan a week ago shows the governor with an approval rating of 30 percent and considerable dissatisfaction over his budget. Quinnipiac University, which does polling in key states, released a poll this morning which showed that 46 percent disapprove of the way Kasich, [...]
Source: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2011/03/23/poll-kasichs-approval-rating-30-percent/
politics 1 the daily politics political liberalism political signs political ad
Siena Poll: NYers Back Cuomo In Budget Battle
In the final days of his budget battle with the Legislature, Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened lawmakers with the shutdown vs. extender bills option, saying he felt completely comfortable that he would win in the court of public opinion. Turns out, he was right. Today’s Siena poll shows New Yorkers, by a large 67-27 percent margin,
Source: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/03/siena-poll-nyers-back-cuomo-in-budget-battle/
Obama President Obama US Secretary US Politics US Government
Bret Michaels: Trump Urged My Suit Over Tonys
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump counseled rocker Bret Michaels to�file�suit against CBS Entertainment and others over injuries Michaels suffered at the 2009 Tony Awards,�the Poison lead singer said in Dallas Saturday.
Talks to resolve the�matter earlier broke down because, “let’s just say, they were pretty cold,” Michaels said, referring to the defendants in the lawsuit, which was [...]
Talks to resolve the�matter earlier broke down because, “let’s just say, they were pretty cold,” Michaels said, referring to the defendants in the lawsuit, which was [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dmagazine/frontburner/~3/rzUCPWpihQ4/
politic processor politic real clear politics polls politics news cq politics politics and religion
Sunday show highlights
Sen. Carl Levin (D), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, on CNN's "State of the Union" "There's other means for...
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/27/sunday-show-highlights/
laser politic politic political blogs canadian political parties politic politic leave political websites
Every little helps
The chancellor has no money to spend in his Budget but he'll find a little from tax avoidance and taxing private jets to try to ease the squeeze on people's incomes.
I understand that he will increase the personal tax allowance again in order to give 25 million tax payers an income tax cut of around �45 - after inflation - per year.
The amount of income anyone can earn before paying tax will be increased by around �600 from April 2012 but, unlike last year, taxpayers on both the 20% and 40% tax rates will benefit - ie anyone earning up to �115,000 per year.
The coalition is committed to increasing the personal tax allowance to �10,000 by the end of its time in office. In last year's Budget the chancellor announced an increase in the tax free allowance of �1,000 from April 2011 but said that all higher rate taxpayers would not benefit.
Treasury sources claim that taken together these two changes will amount to a �200/year tax cut by 2012 after taking account of inflation.
This is, of course, budgetary loose change and relatively dwarfed by VAT rises and tax credit cuts. What he does on fuel duty will matter most to most people.
Long term, however, it will be the extent to which he embraces tax reform - sweeping away tax reliefs and merging income tax and national insurance - which will define him and this Budget.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/every_little_he.html
data data politic political collectibles politics 1 the daily politics political liberalism
Wisconsin and the End of the New Gilded Age
Usually, unless you happen to be one of the fifty-odd people with whom David Brooks customarily eats dinner, throws back a few, or gobbles the free snacks in Jim Lehrer's greenroom, reading one of his columns from the position of a normal, everyday, wage-earning human being gives you the inescapable feeling of being a bug, looking, upwards and backwards through the magnifying glass, at a giant eyeball. No columnist is as obviously convinced that everybody on earth is a specimen in his jar. No columnist is as utterly contemptuous of his fellow Americans if they don't stay pinned right there on the card where they belong. His self-importance is that of a two-bit grifter, looking to sponge the loose change somebody might have left as a tip at Applebee's.
We had something of a masterpiece of the form this week when Brooks bestirred himself to write about the current goings-on in Wisconsin, where they elected an undereducated county commissioner named Scott Walker to be governor. Walker promptly attempted to roll back progressive policies to a point half-past Fightin' Bob LaFollette, and then called upon his fellow governors to do the same. A whole lot of Wisconsinites disagreed, and they have encamped themselves several times now on the state house lawn to say so. State senators ran home to gather their things, and then ran away from home. This has been on television a great deal, and it seems to have chafed Brooks mightily. So much so that he wrote a column about the necessity of shared sacrifice in this time of economic trouble and woe. Somebody put atop it the headline "Make Everybody Hurt," which completed the cosmic comedy nicely. Exactly how Mr. Brooks is going to "hurt" remains unclear — unless, of course, he ventures out into the crowd in Madison and tries to explain why Edmund Burke would have stood with the half-bright goober from Wauwatosa who's made such a hash of things. Then we might need splints and a tourniquet.
(It should be said in defense of Brooks that George Will, who has had a decade or so more practice than Brooks has had at being a public trollop, chimed in with a column praising the Wisconsin governor that made Brooks sound like Emma Goldman, and that apparently was written onto a moist towel.)
Brooks's column is a perfect illustration of a general phenomenon that has been brought into sharp relief in the past two weeks or so....
Source: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/wisconsin-protests-5288376?src=rss
political candidates political memorabilia politic processor politic real clear politics polls politics news
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Prospects dim for full funding of AIDS drugs for low-income Texans
A Senate Finance subcommittee charged with spreading budget cuts across social services programs took a step Thursday toward possibly restricting free drugs for about 14,000 Texans with HIV or AIDS.
The Texas HIV Medication Program, which supplies life-sustaining anti-retroviral drugs to people with HIV or AIDS who can't afford them, will run out of money in the next two years and be forced to cut off enrollment, tighten eligibility or stop covering some drugs unless the state provides an additional $19.2 million, officials have said.
But in trying to decide which proposed cuts should be halted if senators can scrounge several billion in "non tax revenue," the Subcommittee on Medicaid gave a "priority two" to the Department of State Health Services' request for the AIDS drugs funds. It's too early to say there's no way lawmakers will find some money, but it's at least a temporary -- and big -- setback. Basically, it didn't make the cut to be in a group of $4.5 billion in items in social services recommended for restoration. It's in a second tier of some $2.6 billion worth.
Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, the panel's chairwoman, noted that Senate GOP leaders' two-year budget includes $109 million for the AIDS drugs program. In the current cycle, it received about $110 million, said department chief David Lakey.
The recession, a continuing drop in the percentage of Texans with insurance and the drugs' astonishing success at keeping patients alive have stoked enrollment in the program. About two-thirds of the cost is covered with federal funds.
On Thursday, Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, said she doubts "priority one" items will be funded, much less ones given a lower ranking.
"We are basically making a decision on who lives and who dies," she said of the AIDS drugs.
Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, said failing to fully fund the drug program could speed the spread of AIDS, as people don't get their illness stabilized. Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, asked Lakey if local and private groups could take up the slack. Lakey said that would be difficult. The drugs cost the program about $6,700 per person a year, he said, and for someone other than the state to tap federal Ryan White Act funds would be complicated, he said.
Last fall, we did a story about possible retrenchments in the program that loomed with Texas' budget crisis.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/prospects-dim-for-full-funding.html
President Obama US Secretary US Politics US Government The Power of Politics
Iowa Republicans eager for 2012 race to kick into gear
Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) - In a northeast suburb of this capital city, more than 250 politically active Iowans gathered...
politic politic leave political websites Obama President Obama US Secretary
Reading between the headlines
On the morning after the Budget before I was struck by the chancellor's sobering tone. George Osborne has secured the headlines he wanted - welcoming the fuel duty cut, the tax cut for business and the return of the world's biggest advertising group, WPP, to Britain.
However, the upheaval in the Middle East, the continuing instability in the eurozone and growing resistance to spending cuts at home will soon wipe those from the memory.
If the world oil price continues to soar, Portugal has to be bailed out and hundreds of thousands take to the streets this Saturday to protest the chancellor's problems will only just have begun.
Osborne had to strain every sinew simply to limit and postpone tax rises on fuel rather than to scrap them altogether. In six months time he may face demands to do it all again. Added to that there will, no doubt, be calls to stop closures of hospitals, libraries, Sure Start or to reverse other tax rises and benefit cuts or to help this or that industry.
So far much of the talk about spending cuts, benefit curbs and tax rises has been just that - talk. People will really begin to notice the Treasury squeeze at the beginning of the new financial year on 6 April when many of the changes kick in. In the weeks and months after that the spending cuts will begin to be felt.
No wonder the chancellor's sounding sober. No wonder Labour are gambling on it all going wrong.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/reading_between.html
enter stuff politic crack politic processor politic processor crack processor crack politic political parties
Promoting the Gay Agenda to Your Kids ? At YOUR Expense!
Apparently today at Mason City High School, the gay-straight alliance club (yes, we have one as of this year) gave out free t-shirts throughout the school with the phrase: “Gay? Fine by me!” printed on it. I was told that many teachers and students — including one of our administrators — were all sporting these [...]
Related posts:
Related posts:
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCommonSensePoliticsBlog/~3/XMcloQ4yQXQ/
recent political news articles political party major political parties data data politic political collectibles
Lieberman: Libya mission sets precedent
Washington (CNN) - Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee Sen. Joe Lieberman said if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attacks...
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/27/lieberman-libya-mission-sets-precedent/
political signs political ad political buttons political consulting firms political advertisements
Welcoming a Labour, Tory and Green love in (while everyone hates the Lib Dems)
Earlier this evening there was a lovely exchange on Twitter. Green Ben Duncan wrote: “Just got canvassed by Labour candidate Tom French – very nice young man. I’ll be voting for me instead though!”. Emma Daniel liked this, writing: “@KemptownBen That’s a really nice tweet! I like it when you guys play nicely!”. Robocop Ben [...]
political commercials politic politic data cold war political cartoons latest politics news political action committee
Where to Buy Dallas: The Board Game
If you were inspired by last night’s episode of The Office, in which a few of the Dunder Mifflin employees played the board game inspired by the long-running television show, to get your hands on your own “TV’s Dallas: A Game of the Ewing Family,” Amazon is all out, but an eBay seller in England [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dmagazine/frontburner/~3/Sed0NWINpNI/
politic crack processor soft crack politic enter stuff politic crack politic processor politic processor crack
Faith Leaders Urge Higher Profile for Religious Freedom
In letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee, they say reported plans "would harm American interests."
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/christianitytoday/ctpolitics/~3/njIeP4KVYn4/faith_leaders_u.html
politics and religion political commercials politic politic data cold war political cartoons latest politics news
Voter ID gets final OK from House
The House gave final approval to the measure that would require voters to show picture identification at the poll Thursday.
The vote was largely along party lines 101-48 -- the same vote as Wednesday night when the members gave preliminary approval to the bill after the members debated points of order and amendments for hours.
The Senate has already passed its version of the bill. The two versions will likely now go to a conference committee.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/03/voter-id-gets-final-ok-from-ho.html
politics and religion political commercials politic politic data cold war political cartoons latest politics news
The mysteries of the campaign to save the Number 2 bus, Labour?s ?great guy? candidate in St Peters, and the UKIP announcement
“Switch to Fitch” has been ringing out in Rottingdean and Hangleton�as the Fantastic Fitches aim to change the face of Brighton politics.� Young Harris has wasted no time in describing his priorities for Rottingdean Coastal although he has been reticent regarding his vote winning campaign to save the Number 2 bus. He writes: “You will [...]
Petrol pump politics?
A cut in petrol duty from tonight, the cancellation of all planned increases above inflation and a new "fair fuel stabiliser" - all paid for by the oil companies.
The result? Fuel duty goes down by 1p a litre now instead of going up, as planned, by between 4-5p. The next time duty will rise in line with inflation is in January 2012.
We were told that that George Osborne would be inspired by Nigel Lawson's tax reforming and Michael Heseltine's activism. His headline grabber looks to have been inspired though by his great political enemy - Gordon Brown.
In 1997 Chancellor Brown raised £5bn in a windfall tax on privatised utilities. The way Chancellor Osborne is paying for a cut in fuel duty is by taxing the oil companies by £2bn a year. He is proposing not a one off windfall tax but a permanent mechanism which taxes the profits of the oil companies when the world oil price goes above a certain level. They would get a tax refund, however, if the price goes below it.
Cutting the cost of fuel was the chancellor's way to ease the squeeze on people.
His corporation tax cut, promise of tax simplification, planning reform and deregulation and the creation of enterprise zones were his recipe for private sector growth.
Update 14:46: Ed Miliband had nothing to say about the chancellor's proposal to tax oil companies more to keep the fuel duty down - surprising given that high fuel prices have been a theme he has pursued.
He was clearly wrong-footed by George Osborne's last-gasp fuel tax surprise but did squeeze in the briefest of mentions by contrasting today's cut with the rise in VAT announced in January:
"The chancellor cut duty by 1p but whacked up VAT on fuel by 3p - families won't be fooled, it's Del Boy economics".
However, the Labour leader's key focus was to ridicule a so-called "Budget for Growth" that downgraded the immediate growth forecast. That drop in growth and the other bigger pressures on incomes - not a penny or two less of an increase in fuel prices - will, he believes, shape the economics and the politics of the next year.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/petrol_pump_pol.html
office politics political cartoons 2009 love processor politic politic crack processor soft crack politic
RIP Geraldine Ferraro
A spokeswoman confirms this afternoon that Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket, has died at the age of 75. A family friend speaking on behalf the family says Ferraro, who was diagnosed with blood cancer in 1998, died today at Massachusetts General Hospital. A native of
Source: http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/03/rip-geraldine-ferraro/
canadian political parties politic politic leave political websites Obama President Obama
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Barbour slams Obama on taxes, economy
(CNN) - Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour on Saturday criticized President Obama's economic policies and urged fiscal discipline in Washington....
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/26/barbour-slams-obama-on-taxes-economy/
real clear politics polls politics news cq politics politics and religion political commercials
An argument over a fiver
"Tax the bankers more and spend the �2bn you raise on creating 110,000 jobs," the Eds say.
"They've already promised that they would spend �12bn they haven't got," replies George.
"That's balls," replies Balls (actually he said it was "totally utter garbage and claptrap").
"We'd cut VAT on fuel," say the Eds.
"But hold on, your government is responsible for increasing duty by 1% above inflation for the next four years," says George.
And so on and so on.
Forgive me for sounding weary after this morning's exchanges about the economy, but I am. This is, as someone once said, the narcissism of small differences. Or to put it less grandly, it is political positioning by both the opposition and the government about small measures and relatively small sums of money ahead of the Budget.
My weariness stems from having reported a similar argument about �6bn in cuts, before an election which would produce the biggest spending cuts since World War II whichever party was elected. It is the equivalent of a row about a fiver dropped on the floor when you are having your house repossessed.
I am not, however, arguing that there is no difference between the parties and the deficit. There is and it's a big one. But oddly, it suits all involved not to highlight it clearly.
Labour do believe that the government is cutting too far and too fast. What's more Ed Balls believes that his own government was planning to cut too far and too fast. Today he hinted that he would have revised Alastair Darling's plans for spending cuts this year.
He repeatedly pointed out that the Treasury had �20bn more to play with than it expected, thanks to unemployment being lower last year than feared, and the fact that budget plans are always re-written in response to new economic data.
However, he did not and will not spell out what he would have done with that money. Not just because he hasn't "got all the figures" but because like all canny opposition politicians he wants the debate to focus on the government's plan and not his.
The Treasury don't want to have a debate about "Plan B", or what to do about, say, the collapse in construction jobs for young men - a problem I know they are discussing behind the scenes. That's because they, in turn, want the political to-and-fro to focus not on their proposals but on Labour's credibility.
And that is how you end up with today's not entirely illuminating exchanges.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2011/03/nick.html
political collectibles politics 1 the daily politics political liberalism political signs
Faith Leaders Urge Higher Profile for Religious Freedom
In letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee, they say reported plans "would harm American interests."
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/christianitytoday/ctpolitics/~3/njIeP4KVYn4/faith_leaders_u.html
politics 1 the daily politics political liberalism political signs political ad
Armey: Daniels should run for White House
(CNN) – Dick Armey wants Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to run for president. The chairman of FreedomWorks, a national organization...
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/25/armey-daniels-should-run-for-white-house/
political cartoons 2009 love processor politic politic crack processor soft crack politic enter stuff politic
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)